Australia’s Industrea has announced the signing of a contract for the supply of two 55 t C9 roof support carriers for sale to China which will be shipped by June 2012. A subsidiary, Industrea Wadam, signed the A$4.4m contract with Chemical Industry Group Shennan Industry Development for the C9 machines which will be used in Shenmu, Shaanxi Province. The company stated that the new orders continues on from strong domestic demand together with “growing acceptance” in China of the Tier 3 electronic Caterpillar C9 powered long wall roof support carriers.

Industrea Wadam has also generated significant spares revenue with approximately A$6.3m in IME spares and A$2.4m in Industrea Mining Technology (IMT) drill guidance systems (DGS) spares since July 2011. China subsidiary Industrea Wadam (Shijiazhuang) Mining Equipment has also successfully tendered to Datong to complete the rebuild and upgrade of two 40 t roof support carriers for A$1.4m. This work will be undertaken at the Industrea Wadam facilities in Shijiazhuang. Finally, Industrea also announced the approval by NSW Department of Trade & Investment of its Tier 3 engine package for the IME Minecruiser Mk 7 personnel carrier. The statement continued: “Flowing from this  approval will be the commencement of delivery of significant pre-existing orders for this high powered, ultra-low emission vehicle for use in domestic underground coal mines.”

Industrea’s Managing Director and CEO, Robin Levison, commented: “Based on the underlying dynamics of China coal demand we expect to see significant further contracts for our specialised equipment across much of the IME range together with the new Chinese manufactured Industrea Utility Vehicle based on the Minecruiser Mk 7 now approved for sale in Australia. With over 150 of our machines already operating in China’s high utilisation environment we see the first refurbishment and upgrade contract from Datong as the start of a trend where the growing base of Industrea Wadam supplied equipment will come back to us for rebuilding. Underground mining equipment in China generally has much higher utilisation than in Australia which increases the refurbishment opportunities. This growing service base is making a significant contribution to the success of our service and support centre in Shijiazhuang and is delivering on our strategy since the acquisition completed earlier this year.”